Rotary engine and cooling systems thereof

Abstract

A rotary engine, has: housings secured to one another, the housings including a first side housing, a second side housing, and a rotor housing disposed between the first side housing and the second side housing; and a rotor rotationally received within a rotor cavity defined by the first side housing, the second side housing, and the rotor housing; wherein the first side housing, the rotor housing, and the second side housing are cooled in parallel via respective coolant passages including: a first side housing coolant passage extending through the first side housing; a second side housing coolant passage extending through the second side housing; and a rotor housing coolant passage extending through the rotor housing, and wherein the coolant passages are free of inter-passage connection between the housings.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A rotary engine, comprising:
 housings secured to one another, the housings including a first side housing, a second side housing, and a rotor housing disposed between the first side housing and the second side housing, the rotor housing including a peripheral wall having a peripheral inner face and a peripheral outer face; and 
 a rotor rotationally received within a rotor cavity defined by the first side housing, the second side housing, and the rotor housing, the rotor contacting the peripheral inner face of the peripheral wall of the rotor housing; 
 wherein the first side housing, the rotor housing, and the second side housing are cooled in parallel via respective coolant passages including:
 a first side housing coolant passage extending through the first side housing; 
 a second side housing coolant passage extending through the second side housing; and 
 a rotor housing coolant passage extending through the rotor housing, the rotor housing coolant passage located between the peripheral inner face and the peripheral outer face, and 
 wherein the coolant passages are free of inter-passage connection between the housings. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The rotary engine of  claim 1 , comprising flow paths extending through the housings, the flow paths including a first flow path extending within the first side housing coolant passage, a second flow path extending within the second side housing coolant passage, and a third flow path extending within the rotor housing coolant passage, the flow paths free from intersection with one another. 
     
     
       3. The rotary engine of  claim 2 , wherein the housings are secured to one another via mounting interfaces defined therebetween, the flow paths are free from intersection with the mounting interfaces between the housings. 
     
     
       4. The rotary engine of  claim 1 , wherein the coolant passages are fluidly connected in parallel to a source of coolant via a valve, having a closed configuration and one or more open configurations each having a respective flow circulating area for varying a flow rate of a coolant through the coolant passages. 
     
     
       5. The rotary engine of  claim 4 , wherein the valve includes a first valve in fluid communication with the first and second side housing coolant passages and a second valve in fluid communication with the rotor housing coolant passage. 
     
     
       6. The rotary engine of  claim 4 , wherein the valve is located downstream of the housings, the valve being a thermostatic valve operable to move from the closed configuration to one of the one or more open configurations when a temperature of the coolant flowing through the housings exceeds a temperature threshold. 
     
     
       7. The rotary engine of  claim 1 , comprising a heat exchanger fluidly connected to respective outlets of the coolant passages, the heat exchanger providing heat exchange relationship between a coolant and a heat-transfer medium. 
     
     
       8. The rotary engine of  claim 7 , comprising a bypass valve between the housings and the heat exchanger, the bypass valve operable to selectively fluidly connect the coolant passages to the heat exchanger or to a bypass conduit bypassing the heat exchanger. 
     
     
       9. The rotary engine of  claim 1 , wherein the rotor housing coolant passage includes a first section and a second section spaced apart from the first section, the rotor housing including a coolant port, a coolant inlet, and a coolant outlet, the first section fluidly connecting the coolant inlet to the coolant port, the second section fluidly connecting the coolant outlet to the coolant port. 
     
     
       10. The rotary engine of  claim 1 , wherein the housings further include an intermediate housing disposed between the first side housing and the second side housing and wherein the rotor housing includes a first rotor housing and a second rotor housing, the first rotor housing disposed between the first side housing and the intermediate housing, the second rotor housing disposed between the second side housing and the intermediate housing, the intermediate housing including an intermediate housing coolant passage fluidly separated from the first side housing coolant passage, the second side housing coolant passage, and the rotor housing coolant passage, and wherein the intermediate housing coolant passage, the first side housing coolant passage, the second side housing coolant passage, and the rotor housing coolant passage being fluidly connected in parallel with no coolant flow connection across the housings. 
     
     
       11. A rotary engine, comprising:
 housings secured to one another, the housings including a first side housing, a second side housing, and a rotor housing clamped in sandwich between the first side housing and the second side housing, the rotor housing including a peripheral wall having a peripheral inner face and a peripheral outer face; 
 a rotor rotationally received within a rotor cavity defined by the housings; and 
 a parallel flow coolant circuit operable to individually cool the first side housing, the second side housing, and the rotor housing, 
 the parallel flow coolant circuit having first, second, and third coolant passages extending respectively through the first side housing, the second side housing, and the rotor housing, the third coolant passage located between the peripheral inner face and the peripheral outer face, wherein the first, second, and third coolant passages are fluidly independent from one another. 
 
     
     
       12. The rotary engine of  claim 11 , comprising flow paths extending through the housings, the flow paths including a first flow path extending within the first coolant passage, a second flow path extending within the coolant passage, and a third flow path extending within the third coolant passage, the flow paths free from intersection with one another. 
     
     
       13. The rotary engine of  claim 12 , wherein the flow paths are free from intersection with mounting interfaces between the housings. 
     
     
       14. The rotary engine of  claim 11 , wherein the first, second, and third coolant passages are fluidly connected in parallel to a source of coolant via a valve, having a closed configuration and one or more open configurations each having a respective flow circulating area for varying a flow rate of a coolant through the first, second, and third coolant passages. 
     
     
       15. The rotary engine of  claim 14 , wherein the valve includes a first valve in fluid communication with the first and second coolant passages and a second valve in fluid communication with the third coolant passage. 
     
     
       16. The rotary engine of  claim 14 , wherein the valve is located downstream of the housings, the valve being a thermostatic valve operable to move from the closed configuration to one of the one or more open configurations when a temperature of the coolant flowing through the housings exceeds a temperature threshold. 
     
     
       17. The rotary engine of  claim 11 , comprising a heat exchanger fluidly connected to respective outlets of the first, second, and third coolant passages, the heat exchanger providing heat exchange relationship between a coolant and a heat-transfer medium. 
     
     
       18. The rotary engine of  claim 17 , comprising a bypass valve between the housings and the heat exchanger, the bypass valve operable to selectively fluidly connect the first, second, and third coolant passages to the heat exchanger or to a bypass conduit bypassing the heat exchanger. 
     
     
       19. The rotary engine of  claim 11 , wherein the third coolant passage includes a first section and a second section spaced apart from the first section, the rotor housing including a coolant port, a coolant inlet, and a coolant outlet, the first section fluidly connecting the coolant inlet to the coolant port, the second section fluidly connecting the coolant outlet to the coolant port. 
     
     
       20. A rotary engine, comprising:
 a stack of housings secured to one another and abutting one another at mounting interfaces, the housings including:
 a first side housing, a second side housing, an intermediate housing, a first rotor housing disposed between the first side housing and the intermediate housing, and a second rotor housing disposed between the intermediate housing and the second side housing, the first rotor housing including a peripheral wall having a peripheral inner face and a peripheral outer face; and 
 
 rotors rotationally received within rotor cavities defined by the housings, 
 the housings being cooled in parallel via respective coolant passages extending from respective inlets to respective outlets, the respective coolant passages free from intersection with the mounting interfaces, the mounting interfaces being free of a coolant seal, a coolant passage of the respective coolant passages extends between the peripheral inner face and the peripheral outer face of the first rotor housing.